Penn Medicine Research Team Honored with John Scott Award from the Board of Directors of City Trusts

Virginia M.Y. Lee, PhD, MBA, and John Q. Trojanowski, MD, PhD, both professors of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, have received the John Scott Award and $12,000 for their contribution to research in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

"It is our great pleasure at the Board of Directors of City Trusts to honor these distinguished winners and applaud their extraordinary achievements in science and medicine," said Hon. Ronald R. Donatucci, President of The Board of Directors of City Trusts. "The John Scott Award is given to 'the most deserving men and women for their outstanding contributions to mankind.' Clearly, as world renowned leaders in their field, they have epitomized the purpose of the award."

The donor, John Scott, was an Edinburgh chemist, who in the early 1800s set up a fund to award "ingenious men or women who make useful inventions." The Board of Directors of City Trusts is charged with the administration of 115 trusts left to the City of Philadelphia for charitable purposes.

Lee and Trojanowski, both professional and personal partners, are co-directors of the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (CNDR). Among other roles, Lee is the John H. Ware 3rd Professor in Alzheimer's Research and co-director of the Marian S. Ware Alzheimer Drug Discovery Program. Trojanowski is also director of the Institute on Aging and the William Maul Measey-Truman G. Schnabel, Jr. MD Professor of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology.

The Board of City Trusts will acknowledge Lee and Trojanowski at a reception at the American Philosophical Society in November.